Advice
by drxco
Summary: When in trouble ask your friends, right? Eh, maybe that isn't the best idea for Draco and Hermione.
1. Like Pulling off a Band-Aid

**A/N: Hello readers! Hope you enjoy the fic :) I'm planning on doing a Hermione and Ginny conversation after this chapter so, tell me your thoughts?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the world, and characters of Harry Potter—that belongs to J.K. Rowling. I also do not own the F.R.I.E.N.D.S scene this was inspired by.**

**Advice: Pulling off a band aid**

* * *

A year ago, if you had told Draco Malfoy that he would fall in love with the one and only, _Gryffindor golden girl_, Hermione-bloody-Granger—he would have knocked you out with the darkest curse he knew of and checked you in to the insanity ward of Saint Mungos.

But it wasn't a year ago—and Draco Malfoy wasn't the same person he used to be.

"What am I going to do, Blaise?" Draco moaned, taking a swig of his Firewhiskey shortly after.

He had stormed into the Slytherin Dungeons after realizing he had been unconsciously writing _poetry_ when he was supposed to be doing his Potions essay. If he was writing bloody lovey dovey _poetry_ then he needed help—fast.

_Ugh stupid Granger turning him into a girl._

"You tell her." his Italian friend said simply. Draco's situation was amusing at first, but his whiny simpering was getting old and annoying very fast. "And stop pacing will you!" He snapped from his comfy seat in front of the fireplace of the dark green Slytherin common room. "_You're giving me a bloody headache!_"

Draco ignored his friend's moody complaints as he continued to wear down the plush green carpet. He and Hermione shared a common room since they were the school year's head boy and girl—Draco decided that he'd already had enough drama to last an entire bloody lifetime so he had planned to form a truce with her when the school year started.

He had _not _planned to fall in love with the kind, caring, witty, intelligent, compassionate…

"Oh will you cut it out!" Blaise shouted, rubbing the temples of his forehead. "Stop with that love sick look of yours and go. Tell. Her."

"I can't tell her!" Draco screamed back, running a nervous hand through his already messy blonde hair. "What if she doesn't like me back?"

Blaise gripped his glass of firewhiskey tighter—if he didn't restrain himself he would get up and punch his best friend in the face—which was sounding more and more appealing by the second. He spent quite a bit of time with Hermione when visiting the Head's dorms because Draco bloody trailed after her like a lost puppy, and she honestly was an amazing girl—but that didn't give Draco an excuse to act like a _love sick sap_.

"We are Slytherins! Where is your _honor_, Malfoy? We are supposed to be arrogant and unfeeling! Grow a bloody pair and ask her out for Merlin's sake and mine!"

He stood up from his seat and glared at him, his amber eyes were blazing with determination. Hermione was good for him and he wasn't about to let Draco let her go.

And he _wasn't _being sappy—Slytherins just looked out for each other.

'_Keep telling yourself that, Zabini.' _His conscience taunted.

'_Oh shut up you miserable—'_

"There's a reason I was placed in Slytherin, mate" Draco sighed, effectively interrupting Blaise's internal argument as he slumped one of the leather couches. "I'm a bloody coward."

And he was. He couldn't stand up to his father when he had realized pureblood idealisms were a sack of codswallop, he couldn't ask for help from Dumbledore when his mother was in danger, he couldn't save Hermione when she was being tortured at Malfoy Manor, and now he couldn't even tell the girl he loved that he loved her.

"We're Slytherins—self preservation is in our blood." The Italian boy muttered quietly. "You really _do_ love her, don't you?" he questioned as he stared at his distraught friend. He hadn't believed Draco when he told him it was love—intense feelings of like or care, sure. But _love?_

"Yeah," Draco answered with a small smile on his face as his grey eyes stared into the warm fireplace of the common room. "I do."

Merlin's beard now he _had_ to do something to get Draco to act on his feelings. He searched the room for an idea when his gaze landed on an object on his arm. _Got it._

_Blaise Zabini, you are a genius._

"You know what," He said flippantly—his cool demeanor restored once again. "You're thinking about this way too much. She's single, and by the way she acts—she probably likes you too."

He wasn't lying—for every sappy look Draco gave, a wistful one was returned.

"How can I _not_ think about this way too much? And like _me_?" Draco scoffed disbelievingly. "Why would she like a Death Eater when there are literally men forming bloody _queues _to date her?"

"Where is the arrogant Slytherin we all know and occasionally love?"

"Withering in a hole filled with poetry and love doodles."

"Listen, mate." Blaise continued, clapping a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Just make it quick and painless—like pulling off a muggle band-aid." He noticed Draco's silver eyes burning holes at the piece of adhesive medical equipment on his arm and sighed. "Seriously Draco, I had a wound and Hermione told me to put it on. Tone down the jealousy."

His blonde friend seemed to have blocked him out, probably off at Hermione land once again, and Blaise tapped him on the shoulder, gesturing back to the band-aid when he had regained Draco's attention.

"What?"

The dark haired boy reached for one end of the band-aid and swiftly yanked at it.

"OW MOTHER FU—uh er, see? Quick and er, painless."

Draco downed the last of his firewhiskey and sighed. Maybe Pansy could help him.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! As you saw from the disclaimer, this was inspired by the FRIENDS scene where Rachel thinks about telling Ross that he's going to be a dad—soooo, Phoebe!Blaise to the rescue (kind of). Don't forget to rate and review! x**


	2. Like Romeo and Juliet

**A/N: Hello readers! After some major writers block I have finally finished writing the next chapter of Advice. I had initially planned on it being just a three-shot thing but I think I want to torture Draco and Hermione with more bad advice haha. Anywaaaysss, enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the world and characters of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling does. If I did Draco and Hermione would obviously be the canon couple.**

**Advice: Like Romeo and Juliet**

* * *

"Focus Ginny!" Hermione Granger shouted exasperatingly as she stared down at the freckled red head lying on her bed.

It was around nine in the evening and they were up in her room at the Head's dorms after Ginny had stormed up uninvited under the invisibility cloak in her pajamas and called an impromptu, 'Girl's night'. It had started out quite well with her friend keeping her up to date on the latest gossip around Hogwarts (Hermione's secret indulgence), they had just started talking about Hermione's most recent love interest—but when time came for the Head Girl to ask the hard hitting questions, Ginny had found the little box she kept under her bed.

"Ginny?"

"Huh?" the younger girl muttered absentmindedly as she continued to sift through Hermione's stash of muggle items.

"What am I going to do about Draco?"

Ginny rolled her eyes at the desperate tone of her best friend. Honestly, for such a smart person Hermione really could be quite stupid. She chuckled to herself as she remembered the day Hermione had come to the Gryffindor common room and called Malfoy by his given name for the first time. Merlin, Harry and Ron were basically apoplectic with rage! When she and the others first learned about the truce between her and the Head Boy they were quite suspicious of his intentions—he _was_ an ex-death eater after all, a hesitant one, but a death eater all the same. But when they started noticing how kind he was to their best friend, they started to soften up.

It also helped that Hermione was a _great_ influence on Draco Malfoy. When she's around, he sneers less and doesn't bring the first years to tears.

"Tell him." she muttered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world while opening up her pencil cases. "Hey 'Mione, what's this?"

"It's a marker, you write stuff with it—and what do you mean _tell him_? No way!" Hermione shook her head fervently and her brown doe-eyes widened in fright.

She couldn't possibly tell Draco about her feelings about him. What if he didn't feel the same way? That would ruin their newfound friendship and she definitely preferred having him as a friend then having the cold civility they had during the beginning of the year.

The curly haired witch watched disbelievingly as Ginny flippantly ignored her plight and continued playing with her markers as she doodled on a spare piece of parchment.

"Ginny!" She whined, stretching out the witch's name.

"Hermione," Ginny scolded, making a sound of disapproval as she glared at her attempt at art—the Gryffindor crest. "You're a Gryffindor! Remember what our main trait is? Yes that's right, _Bravery._ You were at the front line of a bloody war, woman! Tell Draco Malfoy that you like him!"

The brunette was about to make her indignant reply when her younger friend spoke again.

"Why is the mascot of Ravenclaw and eagle when it's called _Raven_claw?" she mused, picking up a blue pen.

Hermione blinked.

"Well if you think of it that way then our mascot would have to be a Griffin wouldn't it?" she argued back with a raised eyebrow, the inner nerd in her returning. "I guess only Slytherin's name would make sense if—Hey! You changed the topic," she pouted petulantly at Ginny as she glared at her from across the room.

"Well you were _obviously_ going to start an argument about how you _possibly can't tell dear beloved Draco_ _about your feelings for him_ so might as well drop topic if my words fall through deaf ears."

Ginny hid her face beneath her long fringe of red hair to hide her mischievous expression. It may have been a guilt-trip but at least it would give a genuine explanation to why her friend refused to tell the Head Boy how she feels. Hermione sighed and made her way to the queen sized bed covered in Gryffindor red sheets that was strewn with various muggle items. She flopped down feet on the headrest next to the red head who glared when the vibrations messed up her new creation—the _Ravenclaw_ crest.

"You don't get it, Ginny." She muttered sadly at the other brown eyed girl in the room. "You—You're beautiful, smart, tall, funny, confident and you could have any guy you want! But I'm just Hermione. I'm the same plain, boring, bookworm beaver from first year so how in Merlin's name could anyone like _me_?"

Her best girl-friend stiffened as she looked at Hermione in shock. How could Hermione say something like that?

"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed as she threw a small watermelon shaped eraser at her.

"Ow! What—"

"You are the blindest witch I have ever met." Ginny stated as she stared incredulously at the curly haired witch. "You are _beautiful_ ok? Any man who doesn't see it would be as blind as you are."

Hermione glared and Ginny glared back until a small smile blossomed on her friend's face.

"Thanks, Gin." she murmured but she still didn't look completely convinced. _Oh honestly, there are men who would form bloody queues to get a chance to date you!_

"So…what should I do about Draco?"

Ah, back to the problem at hand. Ginny returned to her amateur sketching as she thought about Hermione's situation. If she was anything like Ginny she would have restated that she should just _tell_ the guy that she liked that she liked him—well, loved if you think about it, but poor innocent Hermione was just not ready to accept the fact everyone could so obviously see. But she wasn't like Ginny so what could she do to help?

_Think of a book reference, maybe Hermione will understand you if you use one,_ Ginny's inner thoughts suggested as she wracked her brain to think of a plan.

She smirked.

_Ginny Weasley, you are a genius._

"You're like those characters from the _Pear guy _novel! Er—Raymond and Julia?" she stated uncertainly, recalling her conversation with Lavender about the Blonde and Brunette a few weeks ago.

Hermione's brows furrowed as she contemplated what Ginny had said. _Who the hell was 'the Pear guy'?_

"Ginny I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," Hermione replied slowly, regarding her red headed friend with a patronizing look that Ginny probably could not see as the older witch was facing the canopy of her bed.

Ginny frowned as she searched her brain, trying to remember the details of the book couple that Ron's girlfriend had compared Draco and Hermione too. _What did she say about stars again? _

"The couple Lavender told me about. The one with stars and forbidden love and stuff," she was leaning against the headrest of her friend's bed now, using the heavy potions book she grabbed from Hermione's mahogany bedside drawer as a makeshift table.

"You mean Romeo and Juliet?" Hermione inquired amusedly, raising her head to stare inquisitively at Ginny from her place on the opposite end of the bed. She frowned at her friend's enthusiastic nod of agreement as she toyed with a piece of muggle candy scattered from the box of random items Ginny had dumped on her bed.

Why did _everyone_ think Romeo and Juliet was a romantic story? Sure, their love was dramatic and sad and all that other tripe that most girls lapped up like starving cats but if you think about it, they didn't even really know each other when Romeo declared his love for the first time!

_Lavender had probably never even read the book_, she thought with a disgruntled sigh.

"Just do what they did and you'll be fine," Ginny concluded with a triumphant gleam in her eyes. She had succeeded in giving her a pep talk _and_ using a book reference to do it.

Just as inner Ginny was about to do a victory dance in her mind, her friend opened her mouth and broke her out of her silent musings.

"Er—Ginny?"

"Yeah, 'Mione?" she asked absentmindedly as she continued to happily scribble drawings on pieces of parchment with the muggle markers like a little kid.

"You _do_ know that Romeo and Juliet kill themselves in the end right?"

She paused.

"Oh."

* * *

**A/N: I love the idea of Ginny and Hermione being best friends because Hermione **_**needs**_** a best friend and they are so different yet so similar (and I love both of them). So I guess Ginny was better at giving advice than Blaise but still eh, nice try to the both of them? Don't forget to rate and review! x**

**Next chapter: What do you think Pansy told Draco?**


	3. Make Her Jealous

**A/N: Hello readers! Enjoy the chapter :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the world and characters of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling does. If I did Draco and Hermione would obviously be the canon couple.**

**Advice: Make Her Jealous**

* * *

"Are you sure this will work, Pans?"

"Of course it will. I've been doing it for years."

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Draco tensed as he watched the two girls exit the great hall without the wonder duo clinging to them like lost puppies, he knew this was his chance to execute his plan but a part of him was hesitant. This was _Hermione Granger_, she wasn't like most girls so would this work?

"Go Draco," Pansy hissed urgently, pushing him off of his seat and effectively breaking his train of thought. "Make her jealous and win her over!"

He actually had come to Pansy when Blaise screwed up on his pep talk and she told him that the best way to determine someone's feelings was to make them jealous, and that was what he was going to do now.

He grabbed his messenger bag and slung it over his shoulder, jogging out of the great hall to follow the Gryffindors. The blonde still wasn't completely convinced that this was the right method to go about everything but the end of the school year was looming closer than he would have liked and he wanted to end it with Hermione in his arms.

"Wait up!" he shouted from behind the two girls, his heart hammering in his chest from running to catch up. The two girls in front of him turned and his swore his heart jumped out of his chest when grey eyes met chocolate brown.

Draco ran a hand through his tousled blonde hair as he neared them, slowing his pace to appear nonchalant. He looked like he came out of a bloody magazine and he was completely unaware of the dizzying effect it had on the Hogwarts Head Girl.

"Hey, Ginny," he said, struggling to avert his eyes from the beautiful girl next to her. He tried to sound like his normal charming, nonchalant self when he actually felt completely awkward acknowledging the redhead by her first name. "Shorty," he continued more at ease as he glanced at the petite Gryffindor whose eyes narrowed at his annoying nickname for her. Draco bit back a smirk as he turned back towards her younger (yet taller) friend, trying to resist the urge to glance back at the innocent features of Hermione Granger.

Ginny's eyes widened fractionally at his casual use of her first name but she managed to compose herself, quickly giving him a polite nod. He gave her a warm smile as he kept his gaze trained on her face, smothering a laugh when he could practically _feel_ the confusion radiating off of Hermione.

"What do you want, Draco?" the brunette asked impatiently, and even though he wasn't looking at her, he knew that she was tapping her left foot on the floor as she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest—he would never say it out loud, but she was bloody adorable when she did that. "We have to be in Charms class in ten minutes."

"Well," the blonde drawled, leaning sideways against the rough walls of the castle, turning the Malfoy charm up a notch. "I came here to ask Miss Gra—Weasley if she wanted to have lunch with me at Hogsmead this weekend. Is it a date?"

The weaslette's eyes narrowed and Draco wondered if she had noticed his slip up with her name. Her eyes drifted warily to the friend standing next to her and he so desperately wanted to see how Hermione felt about this, but Pansy said to act like he didn't care, like he only cared about what Ginny thought.

That couldn't have been farther from the truth.

He risked a glance at his fellow Head and frowned when he noticed that she was looking anywhere but the two of them, her eyes darting around the castle—it wasn't the reaction Pansy had told him would happen, there were no furious glares and possessive grabbing of his person. His eyes met Ginny's once again and he noticed that there was a glint to them and he realized she was smirking. _What did that mean?_

"Sure."

"Sure?"

"Yeah, _Draco_" Ginny crooned, making a mockery of all the pureblood wenches who wanted his attention. "I'll be at Madam Puddifoot's at noon. Don't be late."

And with that, she grabbed her best girl-friend by the wrist, dragging her away from the pureblood staring longingly at the brown haired girl's back.

**oOo**

"Traitor!" Hermione hissed accusingly, ripping her arm away from Ginny's hold once they reached an empty corridor. How could her best friend do this to her? She knew how much she liked Draco and she still accepted his invitation to lunch. Had she fancied him all along too? Was she laughing at her idiocy for believing Draco would fall for _her_ and not her best friend?

She glared at the redhead but no matter how hard she tried, she really couldn't hate Ginny—or Draco for that matter. Ginny was beautiful, tall, and athletic, everything that Draco would've wanted in a girl, while she was boring, uptight, bossy, and the plainest girl you'd ever meet.

She never even stood a chance.

"Hermione," Ginny pleaded, her resolve to pretend she actually wanted to go with Malfoy weakening when her eyes met the self-deprecating gaze of the older girl. She needed to find a way to explain herself without revealing Draco's plan since it would reveal _his_ feelings and she wanted Hermione to find out about them from the person himself.

Honestly, make her jealous? That was probably the most stupid plan anyone could ever think of, especially with a girl like Hermione who had almost no relationship experience and a bucket load of insecurities. She wanted to assure Hermione that Draco _did_ like her and that she was only going to convince the boy to tell her, but she couldn't do that without revealing his feelings before the boy in question spoke them.

"Hermione listen to me _please_," The younger girl tried to catch the brunette's attention once again. They were surely going to be late for Charms but it didn't really matter at the moment. "You have to trust me on this okay? I don't like Malfoy and he doesn't like me. He had a stupidly thick plan and I caught on, I wouldn't say yes if I knew it would ultimately cause a rift between us."

"Witch's oath?"

"Witch's oath." Ginny affirmed, her face completely devoid of its previous mischief.

Hermione launched herself at the girl and she hugged her back, glad that Hermione trusted her enough to believe her weak explanation that was riddled with unanswered questions. That was the magic of female friendships, next to nothing could break them—especially not boys.

"And Malfoy's a smarmy git," she scoffed after a few beats of silence and Hermione glared at her. "Honestly Hermione—Viktor, my brother, Anthony Goldstein the world's greatest geek—you have the worst taste."

"Ginny!"

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

"So…" Draco started, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had enveloped their table from the moment they had taken their seats. He dragged his fork awkwardly around his plate, mixing up the crumbs and icing of his slice of cake as he tried to think of topics of conversation.

Hermione had been ignoring him since he asked Ginny out for lunch two days ago and Pansy said it was a good thing. But was it, really? The tense silence in their dorms was extremely disconcerting and he really missed talking to the curly haired brunette.

He stared at the pretty red head in front of him and frowned as she continued eating her slice of pecan pie from across the table, she seemed completely unaffected by his presence as she alternated between chewing her food and taking sips of her tea. _I thought she wanted to go on a date with me,_ Draco thought with a frown, _I mean I didn't really want to take _her _but she seemed pretty eager_.

They were in Madam Puddifoot's and they were hands-down the least romantic couple in the place—save for Potter who was extremely out of place as he sat alone in one of the corners of the pink filled shop. The rounded tables topped with flowers and the all-around girly aura complete with waitresses with pink aprons and floral painted tea sets was doing nothing for his appetite so he pushed the plate away and decided to stare at his date expectantly.

"Ginny?" He tried again when the youngest Weasley didn't respond to his previous attempt at initiating conversation, her first name rolling off his tongue awkwardly.

The girl in question held up a freckled hand as she took another sip of her cup of tea. "You're an absolute idiot, Malfoy. I would punch you but Hermione seems to like your face too much."

Well, _that_ was unexpected.

"W-what do you mean?" he choked out as his mouth dried at the mention of Hermione Granger. Did that mean she liked him?

"I mean, 'make her jealous'? That was the most idiotic plan ever especially when you're talking about Hermione who doesn't really have that much boy experience."

Draco froze. His previous doubts were right—it wouldn't be effective with his bookworm.

"But Pansy—"

"Pansy makes _boys_ jealous, you git. And Pansy and Hermione are way too different when it comes to wooing." Ginny said as she waved an accusing finger at him. Honestly, boys were such thick skulled twits.

Draco paled considerably as Ginny continued to speak. His brain was going on a panicky rampage as thoughts of ruining whatever chance he had with the Head Girl went rampant.

"What do I do then?"

"Go." The redhead said with a smile. "And don't screw it up this time."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked sincerely. It may not have been an actual date, but he was a gentleman.

The Slytherin stared at her for a few more seconds after her distracted nod, realizing that her eyes weren't focused on him but on someone from behind. He quickly glanced back to see the odd one out of the shop hiding behind suspiciously behind a page of the Daily Prophet, his green eyes glaring daggers at the table he was occupying.

"Oi, Potter!" he called out to the head of messy hair, both him and Ginny stiffening at his acknowledgement. "Finish this date will you?"

And with a final wink and a smile at Ginny Weasley, he was out of Madam Puddifoot's and off to search for Hermione Granger.

* * *

**A/N: Ayyy so we're finally getting somewhere! Hopefully next chapter our favorite Head Boy and Girl will finally get their happy ending right? If only Ginny had decided not to make any plans with sneaky Slytherins…Don't forget to rate and review! x**


End file.
